Leaving Homer and trying to capture a last day of salmon fishing on the Kenai River before provisioning in Anchorage before heading to the Great One, Denali. Learned salmon run was over so we kayaked on Kenai Lake. Very fun but it got windy fast and we had to struggle a little to get back in.

Drove over thru the tunnel in to Whittier. On the hour exit Whittier and on half hour enter. I think train goes when ever it wants! :_)
The train tracks go right down the middle of a one lane tunnel so we all share. We got to see a humpback(?) spouting and diving along the way and a couple of seals.

We stayed at the lodge/rv park where Princess Cruise lines lodges people when they pass thru this area. Very nice view down to the river from the dining room. These pics from afternoon of day 1 and walk to river is on day 2 - couldn't co-ordinate cruise and float trip very well. Next day on this blog at Whittier, we actually were still staying at this RV park. I have a picture of the balcony dining room but can't find it at the moment!

August 15, 2016
Today we will backtrack along the Sterling Highway through Soldotna to Cooper Landing, the area with the best river/lake fishing in Alaska. WE actually had to put our sun glasses on which was welcome!
Heading north we stopped in Anchor Bay Beach, the home of the Most Westerly Highway in North America. This is where anglers try to intercept king salmon in the saltwater before they reach their spawning rivers. The sandy/rocky beach is about 1/8th of a mile wide. There are only a few ours on either side of high tide to float a...

We are finally leaving the Soldotna area. We have been here so long people are starting to recognize us. We went to Blockbuster and the lady at the counter said, “Hello Mr. Bunney” Whattttt! How does she know you??? It’s a great little town and I’m sure we will be back.
We drive for about 100 miles and come across a beautiful area called Cooper Landing.
Some would say Cooper Landing is the heart of the Kenai Peninsula, both literally and figuratively: Located in the middle of the peninsula, the small town also sits at the intersection...

Becky & Kevin came up from Seward, Kelly (old friend from West Yellowstone) & his wife Pam came from Kenai, we all met at our camp in Russian River and just hung out for a few hours visiting & reminiscing about the good old days back in West. Kelly & Pam had to get going back to Kenai, and Becky & Kevin, Ken & Jane went up to the Kenai Princess Lodge for a late lunch. Later that evening back at camp, Mary & Frank Condon stopped in to visit on their way back to Sterling. It's so nice to have friends in the neighborhood. Even tho we've been...

Another laid back day at Russian River Campground, we're beginning to feel like "locals" as people in the park know who we are, everyone is very friendly! We had some new neighbors move into the overflow campground, nice couple who call FL home, but are full time RV'ers for 17 years now; Terry & Marilyn, they are campground hosts in various places in the state of Missouri in the summer, and in the winter, they work for Disney down in FL, "selling over-priced food to tourists", as they told us. They also had good story about a "stow-away"...

Another day at Russian River campground, we did laundry at the Kenai Princess RV Resort, and then good friends from MN, Frank & Mary Condon stopped by on their way to a family gathering just down river from us, it was so nice to see them. Mike and Marlene from CA stopped down later in the afternoon, and Mike drove Ken and our trailer to the sani dump station to get that business taken care of. We then went out for Pizza & Ice Cream with M & M, a good time was had by all. M & M were getting ready to depart the Cooper Landing area and move on...

Wow, 4:45 am up to go on a 4 hr fishing trip on the Kenai River, I (Jane) don't remember doing that since I used to get up and go fishing with my dad! We met our guide, James and our boat mates, John & Pat from FL at Drifter's Lodge, we were on the water by 7:30 am, it was a beautiful sunny warm day, no wind. They out-fitted us with waders and water boots, just to protect us from the cold water when wading to get in and out of the boat, but we did not do any wading in the river while fishing, we stayed in the boat the whole time. Pat was...

It's Tues and we're still at the Russian River Campground overflow parking lot. It's not bad as there are not many other campers here in the overflow lot, we pretty much have it all to ourselves. Henry & Veronica headed out to Kenai, Mike & Marlene are still here for a couple days, we look forward to getting together with them on Thurs. We spend the day mostly just taking care of business (phone calls & such). We drove down to Soldotna in the pm, had a nice late lunch at Susie's Café in Sterling and did some shopping in Soldotna. We also...

Well, this was a very busy day indeed; We took the scenic float on the Kenai River, then had happy hour at Mike & Marlene's motorhome, followed by dinner at the Kenai Princess Lodge. The weather was a little cool & cloudy for the float, so we didn't get the best pictures, but the sun did come out later in the day and it was another great day in AK!!
What a blessing these friends are, so glad we met and connected with them!!
FYI, got the word from the GM dealership today, they are ordering a new transmission for our truck rather than...

Today we hiked to the Russian River Falls, about 5 miles round trip, but it was an easy walk. I'll post a few pics, it was a beautiful hike. Henry & Veronica are still here with us, and our other CA friends, Mike & Marlene came by this evening for happy hour. Mike towed our trlr up to the sani dump for us, how very nice and generous of him to do this. They're staying just down the road at the Kenai Princess RV resort. We "hatched" a plan to take a scenic float trip on the Kenai River tomorrow, and then dinner at the Kenai Princess lodge for...